Media Yawn at Hollywood Child Abuse

In August of 2011, the former child actor Corey Feldman made a stunning
assertion to ABC News: "I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in
Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. That's the biggest
problem for children in this industry ... It's the big secret." The rest
of the media said nothing.

Almost three years later, it’s happening again. The Los Angeles Times
reported on April 18 that "X-Men" director Bryan Singer “has been
accused in a federal lawsuit of drugging and sexually assaulting an
aspiring teenage actor in the 1990s.”

Michael Egan III claims that he was forced into a "sordid sex ring" in
the entertainment industry in which underage boys were supplied alcohol
and drugs. Egan alleges that the assaults took place at wild parties in
California and Hawaii when he was 17.

“The claims made against Bryan Singer are completely without merit,"
said Singer's attorney Marty Singer (no relation). "We are very
confident that Bryan will be vindicated in this absurd and defamatory
lawsuit.”

"Hollywood has a problem with the sexual exploitation of children,”
Herman declared. “This is the first of many cases I will be filing to
give these victims a voice and to expose the issue.”

Trial
lawyers making sexual abuse allegations against Catholic priests can
count on explosive national media coverage. This lawyer cannot. There is
virtual silence. None of the broadcast or cable news networks is
reporting on this lawsuit. The Los Angeles Times and New York Times
reports have been brief. USA Today and The Washington Post haven’t
located the story at all.

For his part, Singer is accusing Egan of trying to ruin the publicity
for his latest “X-Men” film. For the media’s part, this should make the
story more newsworthy.

Days after these lawsuits came to light, the networks used the
canonization festivities for Pope John Paul II to slam him again,
condemning him for inaction during his tenure on lawsuits alleging
sexual abuse by priests. The “victims rights advocates” lined up to get
their licks in. NBC’s Anne Thompson summarized: “John Paul II has many
critics who say he did not do enough – or did very little – to stop the
sex abuse crisis.”

The TV networks never tire of long-form journalism attacking the
Catholic hierarchy on sex abuse lawsuits. Last year, HBO ran an
anti-Catholic screed titled “Mea Maxima Culpa” by Alex Gibney, who
called Pope Benedict a “criminal.”

In February, the leftist PBS documentary series “Frontline” aired
“Secrets of the Vatican.” Producer Antony Thomas piled up anonymous
sources claiming sex parties among the clergy. “There was a lot that
came to light, including a man who was, as it were, providing choirboys
as rent boys,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of people in the Vatican
who are gay who are leading celibate lives, and this is difficult for
them. And there are others who are promiscuous.”

All of the secularists at the news networks and HBO don’t need a guilty
verdict in a courtroom to pass judgment on Catholics for allegedly
tolerating the sexual abuse of children or clergy sex parties in Vatican
City. Any accusation from anybody is all it takes.

But Hollywood has the media’s Get Out of Jail Free card, even when children are abused.

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